HAPPY NEW YEAR!
posted by O.W.
First, thanks to everyone who came out to the Redwood Bar gig last Saturday. Me and Hua had a blast, the bar was very happy with things, and it was great to meet everyone who rolled through (except for the drunk Beckies[1] who accused me of ruining their birthday party because I wouldn't play "something ghetto...y'know, booty-shaking that we can get grimy to."[1])
Here's two tracks from that evening - both of which I had been meaning to write about but never got around to:
Diana Ross and the Supremes: He's My Sunny Boy
From Love Child (Motown, 1968)
Don (Soul Train) Campbell: Campbell Lock
From 7" (Stanson, 1971)
The Ross is something Hua put me up on years ago...in his words, "the best b-side of a $2 45, ever." He was referring to it being on the flipside of "Someday, We'll Be Together," the last Supremes single that Ross appeared on before going solo. That was a huge hit for the group and thus, "He's My Sunny Boy" ended up circulating on the strength of it...there's probably a good post to be done about killer b-sides on hit 45s (see Eric and the Vikings' "Get Off the Street" for another prime example). In any case: "He's My Sunny Boy" is awesome - one of the best things off of Motown I've ever heard.
"Campbell Lock" is something I picked up at the old Funky Riddims store (RIP) in Berkeley a while back - a really great, L.A. 45 by the father of the locking (that's right: it wasn't Rerun), Don Campbell. Our good friends at Funky 16 Corners raises a point I had noticed in passing: this song sounds a lot like the Vibrettes' "Humpty Dump" and given that both are L.A. records, they were wondering if the same sessioners might have played on both records or if there was a little, "creative borrowing" going on. Either way, a great funk single. In hindsight, I should have paired this with Ronnie Hudson's "West Coast Pop Lock." Ah, oh well.
Thanks to all my readers who've followed Soul Sides through yet another year - looking forward to 2008. I got a massive, year-end post though, um, it won't happen before the new year rolls through. Enjoy the rest of the holidays though (while they still last!)
[1] An (almost) verbatim quote.
